


Not What She Seems

by Hylla_Tavorian_Aldan



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dipper Pines and Wendy Corduroy, Fanfiction, Gravity Falls - Freeform, Other, Wendy's Mom - Freeform, headcanons, tragic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-25 23:53:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9852602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hylla_Tavorian_Aldan/pseuds/Hylla_Tavorian_Aldan
Summary: Dipper is becoming increasingly stressed about the rift and the whole Weirdmageddon dealio. Then Wendy Corduroy, being the good friend she is, offers to help relieve some of the stress. However, Wendy isn't quite what she seems...And this time, not everything is going to go as well as anyone hoped it would.





	

**Story-line belongs to[FreightTrainFrank](http://archiveofourown.org/users/FreightTrainFrank). I wrote this as a request for him!**

* * *

Dipper was sitting by himself outside at the back of the Mystery Shack. He was inspecting the tiny blob of timey-wimey stuff inside the snow globe-like device that Ford had called the rift. The one thing that could enable Bill Cipher to enter the real world and wreak havoc on everything that was considered normal, thereby bringing about what Ford had dubbed, "Weirdmageddon." Thanks to Ford's and Dipper's trip to Crash Site Omega, they were able to collect the necessary materials to patch up the rift and keep it closed for the time being. Spare materials had also been collected so that they wouldn't have to go back to the crash site right away when the rift showed signs of breaking.

Dipper hadn't been doing anything with it. He'd merely been staring at it, contemplating the possibilities of a tiny blob of spatial mass causing the end of the world. Then, Wendy came up to Dipper, wearing a pair of black sunglasses that totally obscured her eyes, with her signature ax hanging from her belt. She sat down next to Dipper, adjusting her glasses as she did so.

"Hey, Dipper." Wendy greeted the twelve-year-old as she eyed the rift skeptically. "What are you doing all the way back here with the rift?"

Dipper shrugged. "Nothing, really," he replied. "Just...thinking about it, I guess. How it could destroy everything normal if it broke..."

Wendy sighed, but was smiling slightly as she watched the tween boy inspect the rift with the eyes of a scientist-in-training. Someone who could be a pretty decent apprentice to Sixer--I mean... _Ford_.

Wendy gestured to the rift. "Dipper, you've been working yourself up way too much about this rift thing," Wendy chastised Dipper. "How about I take a look at it? Relieve the stress for a bit."

Dipper gripped the rift tightly for a moment, but slowly held out the device to Wendy, a look of slight hesitation on his face. Wendy might be his friend, but he didn't like giving people doomsday devices very much.

Wendy smiled at Dipper as she took the rift and set it on the ground, inspecting it with a mildly interested expression. After a few seconds, her hand went to remove her ax from her belt. She raised it high above her head, a maniacal grin growing on her face. Dipper quickly pounced, grabbing the rift just as the ax hit the floor.

Wendy's expression quickly turned menacing. "Hand over the rift, Pine Tree!" Wendy commanded, her grin so wide it was as if her face was splitting open.

Dipper's brow furrowed in confusion. "Pine Tree..." he muttered. He gasped and pointed at Wendy. "You're not Wendy, you're Bill!"

The grin never left "Bendy's" face as she removed the sunglasses from her face, revealing pale yellow eyes with slit pupils. "The one and only, Pine Tree! Now gimme the rift!"

Bendy swung her ax, barely missing Dipper by an inch. He yelped and jumped back, still clutching the rift tightly.

"I'll never give you the rift, Bill!" Dipper shouted as he sprinted into the woods, with Bendy following close behind.

"As long as I'm possessing your girlfriend's body, you'll give me the rift no matter what, Pine Tree!" Bendy taunted Dipper by speaking in Wendy's voice. Bendy threw her ax at Dipper, the blade spinning through the air at an impossibly fast speed. Dipper gave a terrified yell and ducked, the ax barely scraping the top of his trucker hat and lodging itself in a tree trunk. Dipper continued running as Bendy continued to chase after him, taunting him and cat-calling him in Wendy's voice. Eventually, Dipper entered a clearing, where he found a large yellow wood chipper truck, the paint scraped off and rusted with age.

Bendy entered the clearing soon after, and she immediately spotted the wood chipper, a wicked grin spreading across her face. She went over to the driver's seat and pulled a lever, emitting a loud groan from the wood chipper as it started up, the inner blades spinning and whirling. Bendy stood before the actual wood-chipping part of the truck and waved mockingly at Dipper.

"If you don't hand over the rift now, Pine Tree, I might just consider shredding your girlfriend in a hundred bloody pieces!" Bendy called to Dipper in Wendy's voice.

Dipper's eyes widened, his hands shaking slightly. "I...I...I don't-"

"Tick tock, Pine Tree!" Bendy called out as she edged closer to the wood chipper.

~~~~~

_Wendy Corduroy floated amongst the trees, her expression crestfallen as she replayed Bill's words over and over in her head._

_**"Thanks for the body, Ice Bag! Now I can convince your boyfriend to give me the rift and finally bring about Weirdmageddon!"** _

_"Dipper will never hand over the rift! He'll figure it out and stop you, I know he will!"_

_**"Keep on dreaming, Ice Bag! I think Pine Tree will become a bit more compliant with the rift if your body's life is in danger, wouldn't you say?"** _

_"No, wait--!"_

_**"See ya around, Ice Bag! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"** _

_Suddenly, the sound of Dipper's voice snapped Wendy out of her thoughts. She followed the sound of his voice and came into a clearing, where Dipper was clutching the rift for dear life, and Bill in Wendy's body was standing in front of a wood chipper._

_"Tick tock, Pine Tree!" Bill taunted Dipper as he edged closer to the wood chipper._

_Dipper visibly paled, his hands shaking slightly. "Uh...um..." he stuttered, his fear getting the best of him._

_Wendy's eyes widened at the sight of Dipper's weakening resolve. He couldn't seriously be considering handing over a doomsday device to Bill, could he?! She had to do something. Wendy frantically began scanning the woods for something to inhabit so she could communicate with Dipper. Her gaze then settled on a tree with two small holes above a larger hole carved into the bark. With the holes, the tree greatly resembled a human face. With this in mind, Wendy quickly possessed the face-tree and began talking to Dipper._

"Dipper! Don't give him the rift!" a disembodied voice called from the trees. Bendy and Dipper both whipped around, expressions of surprise on both of their faces.

"Over here!" the voice called again. Dipper turned to the sound of the voice, and he found himself face-to-face with a tree that looked like a face. And it was actually  _talking._

"...Wendy...?" Dipper asked quietly. "Is...is that really you?!"

The tree continued speaking. "Dipper, it's me! You can't give Bill the rift, no matter what he says!" Wendy told him frantically.

Dipper looked terrified, and Bendy looked murderous, wishing that sshe hadn't left the ax behind. "But he's going to kill you, Wendy! I need to do something!" Dipper replied, his voice wavering.

Wendy the tree suddenly looked very sad. "Dipper, is my life really worth the lives of billions of people? Bill will take over the world, and it'll have been because you decided to spare one person." Dipper's eyes still held fear and uncertainty in them. "Please, Dipper." Wendy said quietly. "Don't destroy the world because of me."

Dipper was silent for a moment. Then, his expression became determined, without a trace of hesitation as he turned to Bendy. "I'll never give you the rift Bill, no matter what!" he declared, gripping the rift tightly against his chest.

Bendy grinned. "Well, that was your last chance, Pine Tree! Say goodbye to your girlfriend!"

Bill jumped into the wood chipper, and a wailing shriek filled the air as Wendy's soul was pulled back into her body right when it entered the wood chipper. Bloody chunks of flesh and fabric were spit out from the other end as Dipper stood stock-still as he looked on in horror, powerless to do anything about it. Dipper choked back a sob as he turned away and sprinted back towards the Mystery Shack, the rift cradled in his arms.

Dipper was in a depression for the rest of the day. He kept replaying Wendy's death over and over again in his head.  _What could've Bill possibly offered Wendy to convince her to make a deal with him?_  Dipper thought as he clambered into bed. Very reluctantly, he'd told Mabel what'd happened, and she'd teared up immensely, but didn't let the tears fall. That night, Mabel had given Dipper Waddles to sleep with as a small gesture of consolation, and a silent reminder that Mabel would always be there for her brother, no matter what happened.

Mabel had already fallen asleep, but Dipper lay awake, staring at the ceiling with Waddles in his arms. Soon, Dipper felt his eyelids drooping. Right before he fell asleep, a blue light materialized before his eyes. Dipper quickly sat up, wide awake. And to his great surprise, it was Wendy.

Well, it was the ghost of Wendy, translucent and pale blue. She was smiling a genuine grin of happiness, but her physical appearance told a different story. Her clothes were in tatters, and her body was littered with various bloody cuts and looked to be in a state of disrepair, like an old doll that a child had abandoned years ago.

"W-Wendy?! Is that you?!" Dipper asked disbelievingly.

Wendy's grin remained steadfast. "In the flesh!" she said jokingly, but stopped when she saw the heartbreak and guilt in Dipper's expression.

Wendy sighed sadly as her ghostly hands gripped Dipper's shoulders lightly. "Hey, it's alright," Wendy said soothingly as Dipper attempted to hold back his sobs. "You did the right thing. You pretty much saved the entire world!"

Dipper choked back a sob. "Wendy, I don't know what Bill offered you to make you give your body to him, but I'm  _so sorry_  about what happened. I couldn't save you, and you-"

Wendy shook Dipper slightly. "Hey, calm down!" she told him. "You saved the world, but whatever you could've tried doing to save me wouldn't have mattered anyway, because I was pretty much dead the moment I shook Bill's hand." Wendy sighed. "Just wish I'd realized that beforehand." she muttered ruefully.

Dipper took a shaky breath. "Why...what could Bill have possibly offered for you to actually make a deal with him?"

Wendy shrugged. "It's not that important, Dipper," she replied quietly. "I mean, I'm already dead. You can't change that."

Dipper hung his head in defeat, then suddenly looked back up to face Wendy. "Hang on, you're still here as a ghost," he muttered confusedly. "Which means you still have unfinished business in the mortal world, like that lumberjack in the Northwest mansion! Which means I can still help you get to the afterlife! But how...?"

Wendy thought about it for a moment, but paused when she saw Dipper yawn slightly and rub his eyes. He was swaying on his feet from exhaustion. She shook him slightly. "Hey, just go to sleep, alright?" she told him gently. "You're tired, get some rest. I have an idea, but you need to be asleep for it to work."

Dipper gave a tired mumble of affirmation before climbing back under the covers with Waddles. Wendy patted the pre-teen boy on the shoulder as he finally fell asleep, his expression serene and unconcerned with the world's hardships and tragedies.

When Dipper woke up, it was in a lush green forest with tall trees, kind animals, and a clearing with a roaring waterfall with waters that sparkled like turquoise. The cool smell of pine filled the air, carried to various parts of the forest by the summer breeze.

Dipper looked around, still feeling very disoriented but also in awe of how beautiful the scenery was. Suddenly, a very familiar voice snapped him out of his reverie. "Dipper, over here!"

Dipper looked up slightly, and saw Wendy sitting on a high-up tree branch. She looked the way she did before she was shredded in the wood chipper, with her signature green plaid shirt, lumberjack hat, and her mud-stained boots. She jumped down from the branch she was on and landed perfectly upright and grinned at Dipper.

"This is my idea: maybe the reason I'm still here is because I still need to have one last day of summer with you." Wendy put her hand on Dipper's shoulder. "Even if it's just in a dream, will you spend one last day of summer with me?" she asked him. Dipper smiled brightly. "Yeah! I would like that a lot!" he replied happily.

So for the remainder of Dipper's dream, Wendy taught Dipper how to throw an ax, make various animal calls, and various survival skills one could use in the forest. They climbed the sky-high trees and splashed in the waterfall and fed some of the animals that passed by them as well.

Suddenly, the scenery around Dipper and Wendy began to fade. As the whiteness closed in on them, Wendy began fading as well. Dipper looked up at Wendy frantically. "Wendy, please don't go..." he murmured quietly, tears pooling in his eyes. Wendy began tearing up as well, and pulled Dipper into a bear hug. "Thank you, Dipper." Wendy whispered. "Thank you for everything. Thank you for making this the best summer ever."

Wendy slowly pulled away and smiled at Dipper as she vanished into the afterlife.

_"Thank you for being my friend."_

* * *

**Epilogue**

Wendy found herself in a sprawling meadow. The warm sunlight turned Wendy's hair into red gold, and the light breeze made it flutter in the wind. Houses and mansions of various shape, size, and design were scattered all around the meadow as well. There were courts for playing different kinds of sports, tall trees, pools, video games...this truly was heaven. An eternal paradise, designed to accommodate to anyone's needs and desires. Wendy wandered around Paradise, taking in the people lying in the grass or playing various games. The one thing everyone here had in common though, was a huge grin on their faces. Every last one of the deceased people here were happy, and they would be for the rest of their lives. However, Wendy was looking for someone in particular...

"Wendy?" a familiar voice spoke behind her. Wendy whipped around her, and almost instantly began crying tears of happiness when she saw who it was. Her mother. Elizabeth Corduroy. The same lean profile. The same red hair and the same pair of prescription sunglasses. She was in her thirties, but she looked much more youthful than that. Wendy's mother worked with demolition projects and smoked in life, and the cigarette Elizabeth usually had hanging from her mouth was replaced with a fat gold cigar that only mob bosses and rich aristocrats smoked on a regular basis. Wendy also noticed that every time her mother took a drag from her cigar, the resulting smoke would take on different shapes and colors depending on what she was thinking about or how she was feeling. As of now, the cigar smoke was a mixture of orange(surprise), yellow(joy), and pink(love), and made small smokey hearts and exclamation marks. Wendy laughed and tackled her mother in a hug, who embraced her daughter tightly. Wendy inhaled the familiar scent of pine needles and smoke from countless explosions.

"Mom...you're here," Wendy sobbed joyfully, her voice muffled by her mother's sky blue plaid shirt. "Wendy, I missed you so much." Elizabeth sobbed quietly. "I'm so sorry for leaving you so soon."

Elizabeth pulled away, her expression that of joy and confusion. "Now Wendy, don't get me wrong: seeing you here has made me the happiest woman in the entire world," Elizabeth began. "But...you had your whole life ahead of you. You had a job, friends, your family. So many people cared about you. So why are you here so soon?"

Wendy sighed sadly, remembering Dipper, Mabel, Soos, Stan, Ford, Waddles and Gompers, her family...how would they all live their lives without her in them? How would things in Gravity Falls change? Nonetheless, Wendy had faith in everyone. They would make it. Wendy took her mother's hands and pulled her towards two of the reclining chairs in the distance. "It's kind of a long story..." she said sheepishly. "But hey, we're in Paradise, we have all the time in the world!"

As Elizabeth listened to Wendy retell the events of what happened in the mortal world, her facial expression would flicker between shock, sadness, even anger; her thoughts and emotions represented by the colors and shapes of her cigar smoke. It would change from orange and flare to an angry red and calm to a depressing blue, and make little shapes of skulls, a fist pounding into an open palm, and smokey images of a surprised face or a crying face.

When Wendy finished her story, her mother remained silent for a moment. "Wendy...making your deal with Bill...I can't get mad at your for doing what you did...because I would've done the exact same thing if you'd died instead of me." Elizabeth took her daughter's hands and placed them on her lap. "But the sacrifice you made for your friend and the entire world...I'm proud of you. What you did back there was truly brave. And hey," she continued as she watched her daughter tear up slightly at the thought of not seeing Dipper and the others until they passed as well. "at least nothing can hurt you here. No wood chippers, no triangle demons, nothing. You're safe." Wendy smiled and wiped her eyes. "Yeah. I guess I am." she replied happily.

Suddenly, Elizabeth grinned and magically made two rolls of dynamite and two matchbooks appear out of thin air. "But for now, you wanna blow something up?" Wendy grinned back and grabbed some dynamite and matches. "Heck yeah! Let's go!

**Author's Note:**

> Length: 9.1 pages


End file.
